Confessions of a Frustrated Mode Assistant
by MissCar
Summary: Did you ever feel trapped in your own life? Post slash Marc/Cliff


Confessions of a Frustrated Mode Assistant

Spoilers: This fic takes place during and after the episode "The Fall Issue" the final episode of season three. Also contains spoilers for _Mode After Dark_ episode 1"The Big Box"

Summary: After five Years of being stuck working for the most evil mastermind in the business without any appreciation, whatsoever Marc confesses his frustrations to the one person who always understood him. Realizing where you are is the first step in moving on.

This is my first Ugly Betty fan fiction that I have posted.

Feedback always appreciated

This was supposed to be a one shot, but there could be more.

Disclaimer: I do not own the American version of _Ugly Betty_ or any other version of the show. This is just a way to release a lot of stress.

* * *

Marc sat in the trendy bar in the hotel nursing his fourth whiskey of the evening. It was already close to midnight, but Marc did not care anymore. So far this evening he avoided four phone calls from Amanda, three from Betty, and one from his evil backstabbing boss the wicked bitch of the Upper East Side. He was in no mood for pity tonight. .

Finding out you lost your dream job in the fashion industry to somebody who thought Jimmy Choo was a type of candy would drive anybody straight to the bottle. The realization that it was your own fault because you were too afraid to move on was another thing entirely. Normally he was not one for hard liquor preferring a Chocolate Martini or a Screaming Orgasm. Neither of those would improve his mood on this night. Today was a hard liquor kind of day.

If only he could find one of the ladder that was not in a glass, maybe he would not be drowning his sorrows in hard liquor. However, they has not been much of that recently because again he let his own fears sabotaged his chance at happiness. What happened with Jodie definitely did not count. He was trying to repress what he did with his YEIT instructor. Unfortunately, there was not enough alcohol in Manhattan for that.

He was hurt and angry with both Wilhelmina and Daniel. He was angry with himself for believing Wilhelmina cared about anything but herself. But for some odd reason he didn't resent Betty at all. He knew she worked hard and was brilliant at what she did. She would make of wonderful editor at a magazine that did not focus on fashion. She was the only person in the world who could miss match designer clothing in a way that made them so grossly unfashionable.

If it were anyone else, he would scream up and down that the person got the job over him because she/he applied on his or her back. However, this was Betty and she would never do anything like that. Even if Daniel finally got a clue and realized he only married Molly because she was a Betty clone and went after the object of his subconscious affections, nothing would come of it. Betty is just too good of a person to get a position by sleeping with the boss. Why does she have to be so good? He really hated her ethics sometimes.

After finishing his fourth shot of the night and receiving another phone call from the evil one, he realized he should probably go find his master. She probably needed to fit him for a new choke collar. However, he really did not feel like dealing with her right now. Instead, he ordered another shot. He could not take Wilhelmina's fake words of conformance. She went too far this time. He was tired of advancing Wilhelmina's career while she placed his career on a sacrificial altar.

He wondered if Wilhelmina ever really intended to give him the editor position. Maybe it was just a ploy to get him to stay. The diva probably did not want to break in a new assistant. She knew he wanted to stay at Mode and she dangled the perfect carrot in front of him. Again, Wilhelmina only cared about Wilhelmina.

From beauty ejections to blackmailing surrogate mothers, Marc did everything she asked of him. She never said thank you. She never gave him anything other than adequate on his employee evaluation. A lesser person would have turned state's evidence against the wicked witch of the Upper Eastside long ago. Alternatively, maybe it would be a stronger person than him who could stand up to Wilhelmina. He wondered what type of person he was.

If the entire evening had not been humiliating enough, the cherry on top was his ex-boyfriend Cliff. Another reminder of how his own fears kept him from something great. So caught up in preparing for his new job, that he did not accept for the sake of Wilhelmina the heartless, he was unaware that his ex-boyfriend was nominated in the best cover category for his photography. He was completely shocked to see him at the ceremony. His date for the evening surprisingly enough was fashion designer Briana West-Hartley.

He always admired Briana because she was one of the few women could tell Wilhelmina Slater off and lived to tell about it. She stopped advertising in Mode in June of 2006 just to prove a point. She was one of the most brilliant business minds in the fashion industry.

If it were any other ex-boyfriend, he would not be jealous. However, he remembered a conversation with Cliff after he discovered a photograph of an ex girlfriend. Cliff told him that he loved people not gender. Therefore, it could be possible that his ex went to the dark side again. To make Marc's evening complete his ex-boyfriend's date was now sitting next to him at the bar in the hotel sipping a mango Margarita, Betty's favorite drink. Cliff was just another things he let slip away. He needed another drink.

"Can I please have another one this time may be a scotch?"

"Are you drinking liquor like water because of a stupid guy or for some other reason?" Asked Briana as she continued to drink her beverage.

"If only it were a guy. Unfortunately, it was some other reason. How did you know would be a guy?" Marc replied take the drink from the bartender.

"We met before when you use to be the assistant for Wilhelmina Slater. You spent half the photo shoot hitting on the models."

"Yes, one of the few perks of my horrible job as one of Wilhelmina's flying monkeys."

"You're still her assistant? I didn't think anybody could take working for her for five years without spending time in a psychiatric ward."

"Unfortunately, yes. The only reason I'm not in a straitjacket is because I couldn't find one with a designer label." Marc said with a bitter laugh as he took another drink of the scotch.

"Maybe I should look into that. I could design an entire line for individuals with mental illness who still want to be fashionable."

"Maybe Wilhelmina can be your model. I would love to put her in a straitjacket. It would be ironic considering what she did to her sister."

"What did she do to her sister?"

"She had me switch her sister's psychiatric medication with fat blocker to trigger a psychotic break. I probably should not have said that. Too much liquor after being stabbed in the back by your boss tends to loosen lips."

"Briana he car will be here in 15 minutes. I called your stepsister's cell phone and apartment, but could not get an answer. According to one of the Waiters, her husband ran out here quickly without saying a word to anyone. If you want we can stop by her apartment on the way home…" Marc and Cliff stood there looking at each other in shock.

"Hello Mr. St Paul. I was just speaking with your lovely date for the evening. I did not know you switched back to the female side of things." Marc said in a very cold voice.

"After what happened you do not exactly have a right to be upset Mr. St James." Cliff answered pointing out how silly the last name thing was.

"He is the Mark." Neither man responded to her. "I am going to let you to talk to each other, as I call my stepsister again. Just so, you know I came here as the Cliff state because my stepsister was on the cover of one of the nominated magazines and I wanted to see her husband accept the award with her. Unfortunately she didn't show up." Briana said in a rush as she left the bar.

"Your "friends" with a fashion designers now, you hate fashion?" Marc heavily emphasizes the word friends.

"We've known each other since college. B is different. For one thing she designs clothing for the Mode girl who isn't a size -2."

They stayed silent for a few moments. Finally, Mark broke the silence. "Congratulations on winning the award for best cover photograph."

"Thank you. So what have you been up to lately?" Marc knew it was a weak attempt at small talk, but he was just happy that Cliff was still speaking to him.

"Being Wilhelmina's flunky and believing that she sees me as anything other than her personal slave. Currently I am stuck at a dead end job with no chance of ever getting out because I am too afraid to Move on. You know the usual. I did get into YEIT."

"I remember you were spending so much time on the project, congratulations."

"Thank you for letting me uses the photographs for the mock magazine even after we broke up."

"I wasn't going to jeopardize your career just because we broke up."

"Thank you for caring about someone other than yourself. You are the only one. Can I please have another scotch?"

"How many of those of you had tonight?"

"This will be the seventh one."

"Maybe that should be the last one. You never could hold your liquor very well. You always do stupid things when you're drunk." The last part was said in a whisper that Marc still heard.

"Such as telling Wilhelmina's sister how Wilhelmina really acquire the sperm for her almost Meade baby or how I screwed up our relationship by fooling around with someone else."

"I wasn't going to bring that up"

"Why not, I think about it every time I pass by that guy's apartment. I live in that building now that Miss I-stole-your-job moved back to Queens and I took over her apartment." Marc said as he brought the drink to his lips.

"I don't want you to do something you'll regret again." Cliff said taking the shot from Marc's hand.

"Already did that and I was stone cold sober at the time. Just another thing to add to the list of stupid regrets. I got a job offer to be a Junior Editor at Vogue."

"That's wonderful," Marc could tell that despite everything Cliff was genuinely happy.

"I didn't take the job. I almost took the job but Wilhelmina promised me a similar position at Mode."

"You worked there a very long time. I can understand why you would decide to stay."

"Except I didn't get the new editor job, Betty did. Which is why I am sitting here drinking scotch with my ex-boyfriend who I let get away because I was too scared.

"You also lost your chance at Vogue because you were too afraid to step outside your comfort zone. This is what you did with us and now you are doing it again with your career. You need to stop being afraid."

"It's too late for Vogue, they've already filled the position was someone else. It is too late for us as well?" it was not a statement this time rather a question.

"That position has already been filled by someone else as well." Cliff said as he let Mark take the shot.

"I guess it happens." Mark said finishing his seventh drink of the night.

"But that doesn't mean that the next time you should keep yourself from taking advantage of a great opportunity. Promise me that the next time you're offered a great career opportunity you won't let Wilhelmina or anyone else, including yourself, keep you from taking it."

"I promise," Marc said as he suddenly became very sick. Maybe he should have stopped at six drinks.

"Just because we're not together doesn't mean you can't call me occasionally. I think we can be friends at this point.

"I thought you burned my picture in effigy."

"After I sent back that girdle and called you a couple of times to leav nasty messages with Amanda I let go of everything. I do not hate you as I did in the beginning. Besides Briana is also an ex"

"I never got any of that until a month and 1/2 ago. I think I am going to be Sick." Marc said as he ran from the bar to the nearest men's room, leaving behind a very confused Cliff.

* * *

Should I continue?

Let me know


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